


Smithereens

by icyhots



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, F/M, also shes 18, ill update tags when i need to, reader is an assistant at the dpd, stay safe my friends, this will have some fucct stuff in it as a warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-23 11:35:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20007655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icyhots/pseuds/icyhots
Summary: A struggling young woman was recommended a job at the Detroit Police Department. Wanting to get out of her abusive home more, she took the offer - which led to meeting a sweet, soft android. He knows something's wrong, and he wants to help.





	1. 1

"You said you're available for full-time, correct?" the officer's eyes darted up from his pen and paper, waiting for your response.

"Yes, full-time would be preferable," you hoped your formal tone wasn't sounding as forced to the interviewer as it did to you. You'd spent the last thirty minutes swallowing lumps in your throat, so that false attitude was only getting increasingly harder to hide.

Normally, you weren't so anxious about getting a job; however, none of your other jobs were as serious as working at a police department. This job was a huge upgrade in almost every department. Pun unintended.

Specifically, this was the position of a general assistant at the Detroit Police Department. While you weren't signing up to be an actual officer or detective, it was still an excessively good job given your circumstances. You'd just turned eighteen and still lived under your dad's roof - it's not like you were struggling to pay bills or anything at the moment. You mostly just needed the extra money and a stable income for the ability to move into your own apartment in the (hopefully) near future.

The cherry on top: the job wasn't that difficult either. You'd mostly answer phone calls that weren't important enough for 911, make coffee for the officers, and clean up after they check out. More or less. All in all, the job was nothing short of ideal for you right now.

"Alright, good, good," he nodded, taking a second to jot something down on the side of the paper you couldn't see. "Well, any questions?"

"What do you expect of me out of this job in particular, sir?" you rehearsed. Pro-tip: always ask questions like that at a job interview. Or really just questions in general. You've found asking questions makes you look much more professional and increases your chances at getting the job; so you memorized quite a few ahead of time.

The interviewer slouched back in his chair a bit, "Number one, the DPD expects complete confidential confinement. While you won't participate in any cases, you're gonna hear a lot from the others around who do. We'll have to keep a slight monitor on your social media to ensure you're not spreading any information you hear in our department."

It felt like his eyes were piercing through you. Almost.

"If we find out that you did spread information, that's an instant loss of your job. And, depending on the information, a possible legal punishment. Do you understand?"

You quickly nodded your head, forcing your facial features into a stagnant poker face. Well, goodbye to some of your privacy - as if your phone listening to everything you say wasn't enough already. It's okay, though; it's worth it - you reassure yourself. For a brief second, the possibility of you accidentally posting about something that happened at work popped into your mind, but you shoved the concept out immediately. That'll just make a metaphorical bead of sweat fall down your forehead if you ponder it any longer.

"Besides that, we expect you to take the job seriously. Maybe you're not a detective, but you are still working for the DPD. I know you're young, so let me clarify - we won't tolerate any messing around. You come here and you work. Follow that, and there won't be any problems."

"I understand, Officer-" you stopped for a moment to read his nametag, "Miller."

As a finishing signal, the officer stood up and pushed his chair out.

"We'll call you in a few days if you got the job. If you don't get a call in a week or so, you can safely assume you didn't get it. Thanks for your time, Miss," he gifted you a formal grin and nod which you returned. A small, but gracious thank you left your lips as he held the door open for you.

Swiftly trotting down the steps, you physically couldn't help but take a deep sigh of relief. That was by far the most intense job interview of your life; Chicken Feed definitely didn't compare to that. Garry probably would've hired you even if you took a shit outside his stand; running the whole thing himself was just starting to be too much to handle. Poor guy was practically begging for help.

Apparently, you were getting a little too lost in your thoughts. Knocking you out of your head a bit, your head recoiled back a bit from bumping into something hard so suddenly. At first, you thought you hit a desk or something, but, no. That would've been nice, though.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" you rushed out an apology, glancing up at the man you'd just walked straight into. Your first thought upon seeing him just added more fuel to the fire though.  
"Oh no, he's cute." you mentally shot yourself.

"It's alright," he looked down at you as if taking an analysis. Upon closer inspection, you caught a glimpse of a blue LED and realized the man was an android. That explains why your head's throbbing a bit more than it would otherwise, you thought.

As if programmed like a puppy, the android in front of you tilted his head to the side. "May I ask what you're doing here, Miss? You look a bit young to be here," he commented, a soft, curious expression. You could physically feel the blood rush to your cheeks; you thought it felt like CyberLife was out to kill you right now.

"I was here for a, um, job interview, actually!" your cheeks formed a wide, nervous grin to the male, "not for anything serious, just, uh, a general assistant."

His (rather soft-looking, you noted) lips turned up into the faintest grin, "I wish you the best of luck on getting the job. Have a good day, Miss." You returned his kind gesture with a short "you too" as the android began continuing past you - your default response, really.

You really hoped the officer interviewing you didn't see that..encounter just then. You took one more swift glance at the android behind you as you continued walking, quick to turn back around - as to not bump into anyone else. You definitely didn't need that. Speeding up your pace a bit, you wore a small smile as a greeting to anyone else you passed by and made your way out of the facility. There was, actually, somebody you knew who worked here that you'd hoped to run into - but luck wasn't on your side that day it seemed.

Shuffling past Detroit's constant sea of people, you stood at the bus stop. Fortunately, the next bus was only a minute or so away; especially fortunate given the weather looked like it might strike you down in any second. And honestly, given how today had been going, you wouldn't be surprised if Thor just randomly decided to rain down the hells of lightning on you. Just for that extra good measure.

Most of your bus rides consisted of you attempting to sit alone, plug in some headphones and listen to music as you watch the rain or snow repeatedly hit the windows. However, your attempts usually instead resulted in being squished between two people who didn't know how to operate a shower as your phone's battery died. Today was no different than the usual, but you'd somewhat begun expecting that. What always accompanied you regardless, though, was a sense of dread as you rode the bus home.

Arriving at your fairly run-down house was always the same. Stepping out of the bus, towards your doorstep, into...hell, you'd described it. There wasn't any better word you could find.

"What the fuck is this?" the familiar voice was almost immediately shoved in your face as you walked through the door. Holding up an empty beer can, you noted.  
"That's...a beer can," you swallowed hard, knowing any response you could give in any tone you could cough up wouldn't get you out of this.

A hand forcefully hit the wall beside you, "Yeah, and you know where I fuckin' found it? Your room, bitch," you nearly gagged of the man's breath smelled of alcohol as he got closer and closer to your face. You noticed earlier that he'd drunkenly left one of his cans in your room, not that you could tell him that, though. This was everyday. You could do nothing wrong but there's still a problem to be found.

"I'm...sorry," you involuntarily shifted your gaze away from his hostile eyes and took a small defensive step backward.

"You think that stupid fucking 'I'm sorry' will magically fix everything? Huh? Do you?" his foot stomped against the floor, a loud crashing noise echoing through the otherwise quiet house. You frantically shook your head, cowering against the wall. You thought to yourself, "did this really have to happen every single time?", and you thought that every time. A tinge of relief fell upon you though as he let his limbs fall flat, no longer cornering you. Not wanting any sort of progression or escalation, you scurried away into your room on the opposing side of the house and locked the door.

Your body fell flat against the bed, a slight thump and bounce from the impact. Your eyes blankly gazed at the ceiling, wishing for a way out.

...That was one thing about school you enjoyed, you pondered. Well, there were numerous, such as seeing your friends all the time and having those few select classes that were actually enjoyable, but number one was being out of the house. You didn't have the comfort of always having a good excuse to be away anymore.

While most your age weren't ecstatic about having to get a job after graduation, you found it to be your top priority. But your current job at Chicken Feed only got you so many hours and only so much money; hence why the DPD is everything you need. If you didn't get that job, you'd be...upset, to say the least. Sure, you _could_ find another, but most of the other options weren't as profitable, didn't offer full-time, etc.

There was nothing you could do about it now, though. So you simply had to play the waiting game.

  
A week passed, and you found yourself on the bus over to Chicken Feed as always. The officer's words echoed in your head; if you didn't get a call, you can safely assume you weren't hired. It stung, really. Your hopes were becoming ever fainter - but your despair was interrupted by a vibration in your pocket. Quickly pulling out your phone, you answered.

"Hello?"

The caller spoke your name, "Is this you?"

"Yes, that's me," your nerves spiked like a punch in the face.

"This is the Detroit Police Department. We're calling about your job interview; you got the job. When can you start?"

Those were the words that turned the clouds outside into a blue, sunny sky. It was the opposite for Garry, though.


	2. Chapter 2

Rich white walls surrounded you once again - this time with fewer metaphorical boulders lying on your shoulders. Without the stress and fear of rejection, you stepped in front of the desk and greeted the android worker.

"Hi, I'm starting my job as a general assistant here today," you slid your ID to the brown-eyed girl with a soft grin present on her freckled cheeks.

With a yellow flash on her LED, she analyzed the card you showed. "I've confirmed your ID," she handed the ID back to you, "you can pass through the security gate and start."

After a quick smile and thank you, the security gate opened for you to enter your new workplace. This wasn't the first time you'd seen it, given the job interview took place nearby, so you were at least accompanied by a slight sense of familiarity. That didn't totally diminish the overwhelmingness of it, though. Where were you supposed to start, exactly? It'd be _extremely_ unfortunate to end up messing with something you weren't supposed to - especially on the first day. While the stress of actually _getting_ the job was gone, you'd have to ensure you'd be actually able to _keep_ the job.

Although just standing there doing nothing probably doesn't help either.

"Hey, Sir?" you stepped closer to someone's desk - whose desk it was you couldn't really tell from the back of their head - "um, I'm the new general assistant. Is there anywhere, in particular, I should start? Or anything specific I should do right away?"

With a turn of his head, you were greeted by the officer who partook in your interview. You noticed he was much less frightening to you when he wasn't completely determinant on the fate of your future. The man shifted his gaze from you off to the side as if looking for someone - then followed by getting up from his chair.

"Hold on a sec," he gestured, promptly making a B-line to the little kitchen area off to the side. You assumed that meant to just stand there doing nothing again, so you did just that. Awkwardly waiting. Leaning over a bit to see what he was doing over there, you could ever-so-slightly see the officer conversing with two unfamiliar faces; a man and a woman. Upon closer inspection, though, the female officer seemed to have no part in the conversation as the two men spoke. Rather angrily, you noted.

Soon enough, "Miller" - if you remembered correctly - proceeded back towards you, along with the guy you didn't recognize.

"I'm too busy right now, so Mr. Reed will be showing you around," his eyes darted towards the other's, like "hey - you're doing this, I know you don't want to now confirm you're doing this." To which the opposing male begrudgingly nodded as Miller sat back in his seat and continued working. Honestly, you couldn't help but feel bad; as if you were making these people's jobs harder. Like those people who make Starbucks baristas whip up those drinks with 900 ingredients and you can tell they're an inch away from losing their minds. You didn't wanna be that guy.

"You already heard the guy, but my name's Gavin Reed," you shook his hand and returned the introduction with a smile. "Basically," his shoulders relaxed, "if a desk is dirty clean the shit out of it. Make people coffee. Pick up calls at your terminal. Whatever you can do to be useful. Got that?" You nodded, taking note of the man's...slang way of speaking if you will. Living in Detroit, that's not unusual, but you couldn't help but be a little intimidated with this case in particular.

"Well," you began, "how do you like your coffee, Mr. Reed?"

Better go ahead and try to get on his good side, right?

"Black," he firmly responded, crossing his arms.

"Easy to remember," you grinned - not quite looking him directly in the eyes before making your way to the kitchen.

You'd think in the good year of 2038 that coffee makers would be a little more advanced, but apparently, all the technological funding has gone into androids, phones, cars...unfortunately the coffee maker business hasn't been invested in as much. That's fine, though; you pulled a coffee cup from the only box they had, placed the filter in, measured out the water...easy, mundane tasks. You couldn't complain.

"Here you go Sir," you handed the fresh-brewed cup of coffee to Reed, receiving a slight nod in response before he turned back around to his desk.

Can't say you really expected a "thank you" anyways.

Wandering off a bit, you spotted some empty donut boxes on an unoccupied desk you could take care of. Taking the boxes, you recognized the name on the desk - "Anderson". That's the one you knew before ever coming to work here; Lieutenant Anderson was more than just a regular at the old restaurant. If you could even call it a restaurant, really. Focusing back on the task at hand, you were caught off guard once more.

"Hello again," the brown-haired, brown-eyed, baby-faced android from before approached Hank's desk.

"Hi!" you beamed, "good to see you again Sir." For once today, that smile of yours wasn't forced; this android was too cute to not smile at, really. Sitting in Hank's chair, he seemingly observed you for a small second.

"I'm glad to know you'll be working with us," the male politely spoke, seemingly making sure to make eye contact with you. "If you need any help just let me know. My name is Connor; I'm the android sent by CyberLife." You introduced yourself as well, making sure to commit his name to memory.

Of course, you'd come up with a reason to talk to him more regardless, but you _did_ actually have an inquiry. So it just worked out.

"Actually," your eyes drifted towards him, "I was wondering which terminal I'm supposed to use. Can you help me with that, Connor?"

"Yes, I'm currently waiting on Lieutenant Anderson to arrive, so I can show you in the meantime," he rose from the chair, gesturing you to follow him. As he briefly gazed your direction, you marked a little piece of his brown hair falling on his forehead. So cute, you thought; was that CyberLife's intention? Because they did a great job if so. Quickly disposing of the donut boxes and moving past numerous desks, the android brought you to the one right in front of...Reed's.

Guess you two will be getting close.

His eyelashes fluttered, "This is your terminal. It doesn't have as many functions or information as the others to ensure the DPD's security, but it does what's necessary for you. You can answer calls to the DPD and input the information."

"Thank you, Connor!" your eyes lit up, swinging your arms back as he gave you a soft smile. You plopped yourself down in the chair, switched on your terminal, and observed all the features it had to offer. It was definitely more advanced than your home laptop; not that that's surprising, but it'll take some getting used to. Resting your head to your palm, you eyed an unusual software icon, pressing your index finger to open it. Your brows raised in curiosity as a complex listing system launched; you quickly made the safe assumption that this is what you'd use to input anything noteworthy gathered from calls.

"Would you look at that?" a familiar voice rang through the room, calling your name, "you okay? Usually not a good sign to see somebody new at the DPD." Looking over your shoulder, you saw that same chuckling gruff, gray-haired older man you'd grown quite accustomed to seeing every day.

"Well, you mentioned the DPD needing some extra help," your lips curved up, happy to be reminded that you at least know _someone_ here well enough.

"No shit, you actually got the job? Er - not that I thought you couldn't but, _shit_ ," Hank rambled off, "you actually _wanted_ it?"

Your laugh quietly echoed through the room, "I did take the suggestion as a joke at first, but then I actually thought about it. It's way better than working with Garry." The older man snickered at your mundane jab; although the two of you were very different, being well acquainted with Garry was something you both had in common. He was a great guy, definitely, but he was quite...quite the guy, to say the least.

"Sure, you'll see about that,"

Connor observed you and Hank's interactions with knitted brows from a slight distance for a short while before speaking up, "It appears you're acquainted with each other."

"She works - well," he cocked his head, " _worked_ , at my favorite burger joint," you nodded as Connor made a small "oh" sound. You swore everything he did was cute.

"Well, let me return the question - how do you guys know each other? Well, I know you're co-workers, but... I know how you feel about androids," you gave Hank a shaky grin, your eyes drifting towards Connor.

"Believe me, I didn't ask for this. Follows me around like a fuckin' poodle, everywhere I go," Hank slouched back in his chair, eyelids drooping, and Connor seemed unphased by Hank's comment.

"I was assigned to work with Lieutenant Anderson on every case involving deviants," the brunet's hands gently clasped together, "so I must accompany him to accomplish my mission." Hank groaned after the fact, beginning to scroll through his terminal.

"And there's more and more of these fuckin' cases every day," he scoffed, "what is this shithole comin' to..."

Before you could reply, your terminal flashed to signal someone was calling.

"This is the Detroit Police Department, how can I help you?"

Immediately, you were greeted with an obviously shaken-up woman, "Hello - um, I wanted to make a report. Earlier this morning I heard a lot of...rumbling, shaking, maybe a scream..? I'm not sure,"

Step one: time to drill for details, as you learned in the ebook they gave you as training for the job. There wasn't much to learn, and they're a busy department, so that's what you got.

"And where did you hear this ma'am?"

"I-in the room across from us in our Capitol Park apartment - top floor, and a foul smell's coming from the room. B-but we weren't sure if it was an actual emergency,"

Step two: drill some more.

"And is that all the information you can give me, ma'am?"

She momentarily paused but anxiously reaffirmed, leading you to step three: reinstate the information given.

"Capitol Park apartment's top floor, suspicious noises, and smells, correct?"

"Y-yes ma'am,"

"Okay, we'll send someone your way as soon as we can," you finished the call, dismissing it from the terminal and punching in the details. Honestly, you'd expected a much more ridiculous call, given when you don't call 911 you call the police department, but that was somewhat normal. The calls that make you wanna quit life will definitely come sooner or later, though.

You sat up from your desk chair, intending to go make Hank a cup of coffee. Glancing over at his eyebags and dead expression, he looked like he needed it. But then again, he kinda just always looks like that. You'd remembered from a talk before that he liked his coffee with so much cream and sugar that it basically wasn't coffee anymore, which felt ironic to an extent.

You set Hank's cup of milk and cream with a little coffee on his desk, "Here you go - you looked like you needed it," he grinned and thanked you, bringing the cup to his chapped lips. At the opposing side of Hank's desk sat Connor, his eyes drifting from the terminal to you.

"I'd offer you coffee too, Connor, but I don't think you want it," you let out a small laugh as he responded, "Thank you for the consideration."

A few hours of your first day passed and you found yourself in the claustrophobic confines of the interrogation room. You hadn't anticipated having to clean up a large amount of blue blood from a self-destructed android, but that's what you were doing regardless. You could feel your stomach twisting and turning as you rubbed the wet rag against the colored substance; you weren't exactly squeamish, but the thought was just...a little disturbing. Apparently, Reed was the one who mercilessly prodded away at the android until it killed itself, which also left you with a bad taste in your mouth. Having to sit so close to that guy at your terminal was somewhat unnerving, especially given how easily intimidated you were. You subconsciously had your other hand pinching your nose shut as to not smell the Thirium, which you hadn't even realized prior _had_ a smell.

"You're that grossed out by some fuckin' blue blood?" Reed crossed his arms, figure laying against the interrogation room's wall, "You know you'll have to clean up the real shit too, right, dollface?"

You reflexively swallowed a lump in your throat, nerves slightly spiking at the male's presence. That pet name in particular, although meaningless, really wasn't your favorite thing - to put it short. 

"I know, I'll just have to get used to it," you finished scrubbing the floor, disposing of the rag in the bin. Making your way out of the room, Gavin stood in front of the doorway.

There's no idea he doesn't know what he's doing.

"You have your break after this, don't you?" he bluntly asked and you weren't too sure how he even knew about that.

"Yeah," you brushed a stray piece of hair back with your fingers, nervous and not a fan of where this was going.

"Let's talk then," he glared, eyes not wandering away from you.

**Author's Note:**

> i feel like first chapters are always so boring im sorry lol. more character interactions in the next chap! hope you all enjoy :^)


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